A TERRIFYING beast prowling Burbage Common is one of the possible explanations for how a deer’s head was found up a tree.

There have been a few theories emerging since the strange incident was reported in The Hinckley Times last week and one of them suggests dog walkers may not be alone in the woods.

A big cat such as a panther or a puma could be responsible for the mutilation of the muntjac deer, according to Leicestershire and Rutland Panther Watch’s Nigel Spencer.

He said: “If you find anything up a tree there is a chance it’s a big cat.

“They tend to stash their food up trees.

“If it had been a kill we could actually get DNA through the University of Warwick.

“Myself and my father David Spencer started to take an interest, mainly because living in the countryside, it seemed inconceivable that large predatory cats could be roaming free.

“Then in January 1995, my father had what was to be among one of the closest encounters in the UK with the mysterious animal and started in earnest the search for the truth.”

The group is devoted to researching and gathering evidence to prove the existence of big cats thriving in the British countryside and publish their findings at www.bigcats.org.uk.

Another theory is that the animal was hunted - something that is banned in the UK - and its head disposed of.

According to a spokesman for Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council that explanation is more likely as the decapitation looked like a clean cut.

The council had also received more calls from people saying they had seen the head on the ground before it was spotted by a walking group up the tree last Wednesday.

That could mean that it was flung up there to be out of the way of dogs - or stored by a big cat so it could feast later.

According to Panther Watch, sightings of big cats first occurred in the early 1990s in the East Midlands and two distinct large cats were reported - one a puma, a light sandy brown coat, and the other a black panther.